2: Once upon a time in a small town, there was a little boy named Jimmy. Jimmy believed he would grow up to be the greatest historian that ever lived. One day, on his way home from school Jimmy was strolling down the street when he realized his compass was rolling into the dark and scary forest. Searching for it, he heard a deep voice singing. Jimmy was curious to know where it was coming from and without thinking he walked towards the noise.

3: He noticed a grizzly bear sitting on his compass. "Hey!" Jimmy said. "Your sitting on my compass!" The bear replied, "Did you know that the Tang and Song Dynasties influenced the making of the first compass?" Confused, Jimmy said, "What's a Tang and Song?" The bear waited in shock and then said to him, "Oh little one, that was something that occurred many many years ago. More than 1,400 years ago!" "Whoa! Does that mean the earth is that many years old?" Jimmy asked. The grizzly bear said, "Oh dear, the earth is even older than that. I can tell you the earth dates back to even before the Neolithic Revolution began." "What's that???" Jimmy replied.

4: The bear began, "The Neolithic Revolution started because of early ancient river valley civilizations. The Neolithic revolution happened when civilizations changed from nomadic hunting and gathering to sedentary farming. Roles of women changed from hunting with the men to stationary work inside the house. A civilization has five important things: advanced cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, and advanced technology. The five main civilizations were Mesopotamia, Indus River Valley, China, and Egypt. These civilizations each had different things about them. Mesopotamia wrote in Cuneform. Indus River Valley had modern polytheistic Hindu culture. China had three dynasties: Xia, Shay, and Zhou, while Egypt wrote in hieroglyphics which were pictures that represented ideas and sounds. Also a man named Hammurabi invented a written code of laws for his people to follow that way there could be order within the civilizations. | Ancient River Valley CIvilizations

5: "What if Hammurabi didn't make his code of laws?" said Jimmy. "If Hammurabi didn't make laws, then his civilization would be a mess! His people would have been unorganized. Maybe some other ruler would have came in and wrote laws and it would have started society on a whole other path. Even today, the United States follows laws that way society wouldn't be so corrupt with doing whatever they please without any punishment to follow the crime. But just think if they hadn't. Your whole neighborhood would have been corrupt! Laws are what keep people from doing anything they want that may harm the people or government around you. Oh and the classical era..." "What was the Classicals?" asked Jimmy.

6: "The Classical era was a time when Rome had been a powerful empire. Greece had two very powerful polis, also known as city states. One of them was Sparta, very dedicated towards their military. Athens was the other one. They created a democracy, a government ruled by the people. This form of government has influenced our society today as we are also a democracy. Greeks had spurred and created many things in the world like columns for buildings, statues, plays, astrology, geometry, and much more. Also a guy named Alexander the Great was a great man who came into power in Rome. He got and conquered many lands and introduced Hellenistic culture, a combination of Greek, Persian, Egyptian, and Indian. In this era, silk roads came into play. Therefore, Europe began exchanging goods and ideas with other countries around the eastern hemisphere like China." | Classical Greece/Rome

7: "But what if Athens didn't embrace a democracy?" Jimmy asked. "If Athens didn't create democracy, then maybe we would still be under a monarchy! Who knows? As of now, democracy is the most practiced political system in the world. Kings and queens could possibly still be around if Athens didn't create this new form of government. Democracy is what let people have their own religions without control of the government. It also let the citizens participate in electing who they would like as their leader. Without a democracy, the world probably wouldn't have so much power lying in the hands of the citizens of the country." The bear responded. "Well that's cool! Sooo what happens after all of this?" Jimmy wonders.

8: " Well, in Africa during this time, there were many different ethnic groups referred to as Bantu-speaking peoples.These people migrated from the North Africa throughout southern Africa, spreading their language and culture. They hoped to leave their non-supporting environments in the north and find more welcoming lands in the south. The Bantu's assimilated all over Africa and were dominating. With this going on, Islam began to rise all over. The Mongols, which were located in Central Asia, wanted to dominate all of Asia. They were the ones to open up the Silk Road to safe travels for immigrants and traders. In China, the Tang and Song dynasties were very powerful that ruled for nearly 50 years. Under tang rulers, the empire expanded and strengthened the central government of china. Under the Song dynasty, China lost lands to nomadic tribes. Both dynasties created new inventions that became very crucial to people worldwide like the compass, porcelain, gunpowder, paper money and more." | Post Classical Asia/Africa

9: " Wow! We should go to Africa!" expressed Jimmy. "Yeah! My friend Yvoire was born there!" the bear said. "What if the Bantu Migrations didn't take place in Africa?" Jimmy asked. "Well Jimmy.... What the Bantus did was amazing. They brought agriculture and knowledge of farming to most of southern Africa. They brought their culture which influenced how Africans live today. Without these migrations the eastern and southern parts of Africa wouldn't have been as educated with the knowledge from the Bantus as they are now. Because the Bantus moved into other peoples land in Africa, territorial wars quickly broke out. If it hadn't occurred in Africa, there probably wouldn't be as much tension between some countries as they are right now from previous events with the Bantu-speaking peoples." said the bear. "Wait a minute, remember the Classical era with Rome? Let's go back to that."

10: "After Rome fell, it became a schism. The eastern part of Rome was left successful and was renamed the Byzantine Empire. The western part of Rome was the complete opposite and fell just like Rome did because of many things such as the Black Plague, a disease that killed over 2/3 of Europe's population. When Rome fell, that pulled Europe and parts of Asia into the age of the Dark Ages, a time period where Europe and areas of Asia lost all knowledge and became "dumb". Luckily Islam and China were able to obtain their knowledge during this time. Soon, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, fell to the Turks who had been completely converted to Islam at this time. The Byzantine Empire couldn't tolerate the Turks and wanted their lands back so the pope, Pope Urban II, of Byzantine called for a "holy war" called the Crusades, a movement against abuse. During the Crusades, many of the European crusaders learned from the Muslims and European technology slowly began improving." | Post-Classical (Medieval) Europe

11: "Whoa! That is so cool!" said Jimmy. "But I have a question." "What is it little one?" said the bear. "Well, what if Pope Urban II didn't launch the Crusades?" asked Jimmy. "Well if the pope hadn't called for the Crusades to happen then Europe wouldn't have gained the knowledge they lost. They would have never invented or improved their technology. Europe also might have been longer taken over by the Turks and most of it would have been under Turk control with Europe having a different culture and religion. Also, the Enlightenment was an effect of the Crusades and if it weren't to happen, then the Enlightenment would probably have never occurred. There wouldn't have been revolutions or new ideas and beliefs being voiced out." said the bear. "Wait! What? Stop! What's the Enlightenment?" wondered Jimmy.

12: "Before we get there let's talk about the age of reason. It's called the Renaissance. This time was a great one for many Europeans! Life had been brought to Europe with art, music, literature, and more! The Renaissance started in Italy and traveled through Europe. Literacy rates were becoming higher because of the new invention by Gutenburg called the printing press. The printing press was one of the greatest inventions of all time. It spread ideas and events very rapidly through and to the countries in the eastern hemisphere and even the whole globe! Christian humanists were popular at this time. They soon discovered the lies that the Catholic church was telling them. This started the Reformation. The reformation was an overthrow of the catholic church and the start of many others. Europeans were more worried about secular things rather than faith. Martin Luther, a reformer and a man who spoke out against the Catholic Church, was addressed by the church because of his different faiths and beliefs of the wrongs of the church. Protestant and orthodox arose and became popular new faiths that were revealed to Europe and changed the faith and future of Europeans. | Renaissance/Reformation

13: "Wow, what if the printing press wasn't invented?" said Jimmy. "Well you know that since Gutenburg created the printing press that literacy rates became higher. Christian Humanists started to read more of the bible and interpreting it. If the printing press wasn't invented, how would the reformation have happened? If people couldn't read they would still be fooled. The Reformation wouldn't have happened so quickly and maybe all of Europe would still be under catholic rule. Also, without the printing press, ideas and events would not have been spread throughout so quickly and easily."

14: "After the Reformation in Europe philosophers came about. They were known as Enlightenment thinkers. They began to use more of their knowledge, beliefs, and ideas on the subject of government and culture. These thinkers started to question the thought of absolute control of the monarchies and their ideas quickly spread to the colonists. The Divine Monarchy was raging throughout Europe as well as the peasant's anger being under the less populated nobility. People began revolting against their rulers so the people met in salons to discuss political and economic problems in their country. Colonists of a ruling country such as America, France, and Latin America, broke out into revolutions to break away from their rulers and to start their own self-government of their own country. During this time, another but different kind of revolution broke out, the Industrial Revolution. It started in England and moved all throughout Europe with the new inventions such as the steam engine, steam boat, the need for more people working in factories leading to the increase of child labor and much more." | Enlightenment/Revolutions

15: "Well what if the Enlightenment ideas were not embraced by the colonists?" asked Jimmy. "Well Jimmy, Enlightenment Ideas influenced the Revolutions to happen. So you ask what if the colonists hadn't embraced the enlightenment? Well colonists would have never known to question why the monarchy was actually in control of them. America might still be under British rule as well as other countries might still have a King and queen ruling them. The enlightenment changed government and the way people lived and viewed their leaders and the ideas of government. Maybe instead of Obama as president, Queen Elizabeth II would be in complete control and ruling over the United States of America with the citizens of America paying taxes to her.

16: "Let's move on. Later in time, the world had a war known as a World War. There were five main causes of the world war. Militarism. Germany competed with Russia and the UK because all countries were dominant in industry and army. Also alliances were formed which just increased tension between countries. Imperialism. Powers competed for colonies and territory especially in Africa. Nationalism. Some nations wanted to assert their power and pride of their country. Every country was determined to be the best. The World War began when the heir to the throne of Austria goes to Sarajevo and gets assassinated by a Serbian because Serbia wanted to be free under Austrian rule. This began a war between Serbia and Austria. Russia, Serbia's ally, moved their troops towards Germany, Austria's ally, and refused to stop. Therefore, war started between Germany and Russia. Soon allies and central powers were created. The Allies were France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, and later, the isolated United States. The central powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire. Countries were competing for territories. More and more troops became enlisted into the army and the U.S entered the war because Russia had to get out because of a revolution of communism in their country. The Germans had a major advantage. They had more troops, better army, and a new strategy called mustard gas. Trench Warfare also started happening. Germany couldn't keep on winning though. The British brought in planes and Germans were backing down. In the end, the Allies won and the Germans were blamed for almost everything. The Treaty of Versailles was created. Germany was forced to give and pay for most of the expenses and many more punishes solely were put on them. As the Germans grew in rage, World War II would soon hit Europe." | World War I

17: "What if Germany hadn't been blamed for the World War?" Jimmy said. "Well the World War was the cause of World War II. If the Germans hadn't been blamed for so many things in the war, maybe they wouldn't have been so mad. Instead we, The UN, created the treaty of Versailles, making them pay for all the damage done which made the Germans very angry. We blamed them for everything and took away many territories and limited their military! If we would of been nicer, The Germans wouldn't of wanted revenge." "What happened in World War II?" Jimmy asked.

18: "Well after World War I, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a nonaggression pact, an agreement in which nations promise not to attack each other. Then Germany decides to invade Poland and that's when the second World War starts because before that, Germany made an agreement that if they got their land back from World War I, then they wouldn't try to gain other lands around them. It was the Allies against the Axis powers. The Allies were Britain, the US, China, Australia, and Canada. The Axis powers were Germany, Japan and Italy. When Germany begins to try to begin war and spread to other lands all over Europe, the British and French used appeasement, the making of concessions to an aggressor in order to avoid war, against Hitler, the leader of Germany, in order to keep them from spreading throughout the continent. During the World War, Germany began the Holocaust, the mass slaughter of Jews and other civilians, carried out by the Nazi government of Germany in order to blame the Jews for everything including the first world war. When Germany decided to spread the other way, they invade the Soviet Union going against their nonaggression pact. The Soviet Union joined the Allies. When the allies invaded the European mainland, it became known as D-Day. Later, the U.S. government cut off oil shipments to Japan. Of course Japan got upset so they decided to bomb Pearl Harbor, lands controlled by the U.S. The U.S. decided to try something new and drop something called Atomic Bombs, stronger than normal bombs, on Japan. Germany and Japan both surrendered and World War II's victory went to the Allies." | World War II

19: "Oh my gosh! How amazing! But what if the British and the French had not used Appeasement as their foreign policy?" asked Jimmy. "Well Jimbo, if they didn't use appeasement, Germany wouldn't have tried going to other lands and conquered them because their only other option would have been aggression which means going to war. The Allies were much more powerful than the Axis powers so the war might have been shorter in the sense that the Allies would've won faster. Also, Germany wouldn't have conquered as much land as they did because the Allies would have been fighting back against them."

20: "After the World Wars the U.S. had not been able to trust the Soviet Union because they went from their side to opposing them and switching back and forth. There was a sense of mistrust and competition between both the great and big powers. The war happened because they both had a difference in ideology. The Soviets were a communists country and they wanted to spread that form of government throughout Europe. The U.S. didn't like that form of government so they tried their best to contain the Soviets where they were and not spread to countries around them. No shots were actually fired because of the fear of retaliation and the start of another world war. Then, the "Iron Curtain" was formed. It was a division between communist and democratic nations in Europe. The US and ten other European nations formed the NATO organization and in response the Soviet Union and other communists countries formed the Warsaw pact. Later, the Sputnik was made and launched by the Soviets into space signaling the start of the "space race" between the Soviets and the US. Later, the US sends a space shuttle to the moon changing the "space race" forever. They also had an "arms race" in building bombs. Soon, the Berlin Wall in Europe, the physically built wall to separate the Soviet Union with the rest of Europe, came down. There was no specific winner of the Cold War, but it is said that the US won because communist government fell in the Soviet Union and it was destroyed becoming Russia." | Cold War

21: "Oh my gosh! I have another question!" said Jimmy. "Okay, Jimmy. Last one. It's getting late." said the bear. "What if the US had not adopted the theory of containment?" asked Jimmy. The bear replied, "If the US didn't try to contain the Soviets from spreading their government of communism, maybe the Cold War wouldn't have happened. We might have never been the first ones to land on the moon. Communism probably would have successfully spread throughout the world. Many countries might have been communist today. There might have never been a NATO or Warsaw Pact organization. Maybe tension would have grown so much that another world war might have occurred."

22: Jimmy had to go home and on the way back home Jimmy reflected back on all the non-fictional stories told to him by the bear. So, by the end of the day, little Jimmy had all the information he needed. All the information of the past. All the information he needed to become the great historian that ever lived. And that's just what he became. THE END.

25: Written By: Yvoire Whittaker and Britton Rowley Directed by: Yvoire Whittaker and Britton Rowley Produced by: Yvoire Whittaker and Britton Rowley Influenced by: the force of Mrs. Rutherford Based on: History Special Thanks To: Google Images, the movie "Up", our World History Book, and BOKs.